Evenepoel says 'long journey' ahead after postal van collision

Double Olympic road cycling champion Remco Evenepoel said on Wednesday he faces "a long journey" after breaking a hand, ribs and shoulder blade in a collision with the door of a postal van during a training ride.

The 24-year-old Belgian, who won road race and time-trial gold at this year's Paris Olympics, was rushed to hospital on Tuesday after striking the open door of a stationary van in Brussels while preparing for the new season.

"After a scary accident on training yesterday, I underwent surgery last night and everything went well," Evenepoel wrote on social media.

The message was accompanied by a picture of Evenepoel in his hospital bed, with his right arm in a sling.

"With a fracture to my rib, shoulder blade, hand, contusions to my lungs and a dislocation of my right clavicle which has caused all surrounding ligaments to be torn, it's going to be a long journey," he said.

"But I'm fully focused on my recovery and I'm determined to come back stronger, step by step.

"The comeback starts now," he added.

Later on Wednesday, Evenepoel spoke in further detail about the incident to Belgian television.

"The accident happened quite quickly," Evenepoel told VTM.

"I saw the woman from Bpost was opening her door.

"I managed to distance myself but I hit the door and I was catapulted to the other side of the road.

"I will need time to recover. The first month I won't be able to do anything pretty much.

"Then we'll measure the damage," he added.

- Hit hard -

Evenepoel is no stranger to dramatic crashes and in April came off his bike into a concrete ditch in a during the Tour of the Basque Country.

"It hurts much more than after my fall at the Tour of the Basque Country," he said.

"It hit hard especially in my collar bone."

The boss of Evenepoel's Soudal Quick-Step team, Patrick Lefevere, said the Belgian rider, one of the world's highest paid cyclists, had called him shortly after the fall.

Witnesses to the accident said Evenepoel, a former international youth footballer, lay stricken and ashen-faced but conscious, with the top tube of his bike frame broken in two by the force of the impact.

Quick-Step said he would be off the bike for at least the next two weeks, but it was not immediately clear what impact the injuries would have on his racing plans for next season.

In 2025, Evenepoel plans to race the one-day races Milan-San Remo in March and Liege-Bastogne-Liege the following month, as well as July's Tour de France and possibly the Giro d'Italia, which starts in May.

Evenepoel thanked the emergency services, medical staff and those who first arrived on the scene after the accident, while also expressing his support for the postal worker.

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